Homeowners would find it useful to have an organized record of their belongings. This organized record can be used in the event of an emergency. For example, an organized list can be used to file an insurance claim in the event of a burglary or a fire. An organized list with appropriate beneficiary assignments can also be used in personal estate planning.
Getting homeowners (homeowners in this document includes renters) to create a list of their belongings, and keep it updated, is difficult. Conventionally, homeowners have relied upon a combination of paper lists, receipts, and their memory to recreate a comprehensive list of their personal property after a disaster. In some cases, particularly with the advent of digital photography, homeowners have captured images of the items or personal property in their homes. More recently, software programs have been introduced (e.g., Quicken's Home Inventory Manager) to facilitate the list capture and organization process.
Even with recent advances, homeowner inventory management continues to be tedious and time consuming. Consequently, very few homeowners create an inventory of their belongings.